I doubt Arco, Idaho is a big tourist destination, although it has an interesting claim to fame: in 1955 it became the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power. Not coincidentally, it is also where the world’s first deadly nuclear reactor meltdown occurred: 3 people died in 1961. We also read it was where TV was invented, but I don’t see any reference to that on the internet anymore. Don’t laugh but we chose this town to stay at, in part, because of its history. Mostly though we stayed because its has a nice looking campground within 20 miles of Craters of the Moon National Monument. We visited that monument on a 2010 family vacation that took us from the Oregon Coast to Yellowstone. Read about our Craters visit further down in this blog.

Farragut State Park is located on the southern tip of beautiful Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur d’ Alene Mountains of northern Idaho. It has dry hot summers, making it a great location for campers. The lake is America’s 5th deepest but has a swimming area at Beaver Bay Beach . This horseshoe shaped sand beach is one of the few places on the lake where the water gets warm enough in the summer for a swim. If you travel with pets make note that they are not allowed on any part of the swimming beach.